Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 2:29 pm on 19 October 2022.
Diolch, Llywydd. Good afternoon, Minister. This is my last opportunity to question you before Cymru begin their historic first world cup campaign in 64 years. I wanted to highlight though what Nasser Al Khater, the chief executive of Qatar 2022, recently said in a media interview. He suggested that Governments should focus on the football and leave it at that. We all know that Qatar has, at best, a patchy record when it comes to human rights and its treatment of the LGBT community. And we have a duty, I think, to highlight these issues to fans making the trip to Qatar and not prejudiced for just being themselves. They've even suggested that Welsh captain, Gareth Bale, doesn't wear the rainbow OneLove armband. I know that you, the First Minister and the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport all plan on going to Qatar to watch Wales's group games, so I wanted to give you the opportunity to respond to those comments by the chief executive of Qatar 2022 world cup before you go. And can I also ask you whether you'll be raising the issues regarding LGBT rights and human rights more generally whilst you're out there?